As Thomas watched Lucia and me arguing he suddenly felt himself being drawn away. Despite not moving at all he could see that he was back on the bridge of Iscanon. Before him stood the same creature that had greeted him before. A woman who was covering her body completely with wings. On the wings were hundreds of eyes looking in every direction. Thomas stood in reverence of the creature as the being extended a hand bearing a rolled-up paper from between its wings to Thomas.

“I was hoping you would let me see beyond your wings for once. It has been a while since we started working together.” Thomas said with a sly smirk.

“And risk beyond cast into your realm? I shall wait until you have passed over to mine before I show you what lies under these wings.” The being replied with a mix of crassness and embarrassment.

Thomas read what was written on the note as the creature disappeared. He read it over and over again in disbelief. Just as quickly as he had appeared Thomas returned to his senses on the stone that he had led Sasha, Lucia, and I to. His reasoning for bringing us here wasn’t just to be away from prying ears but to possibly prompt his Creator to tell him his next step. It had worked. However, he felt as if he wasn’t ready to fulfill this command.

“Now that that’s settled we can talk about another issue.” Thomas said eagerly. Though he was not eager at all. Though he had to make it sound like he was unphased.

“What other issue?” Lucia asked with a confused look. I looked just as confused but with a bit less concern.

“We currently sit upon an old Imperial teleporting stone. I know that Nero will be able to return it to a working state so I request that the two of you go the remnants of the Empire’s home and request their aid for what comes next.” Thomas said.

“What is going on and how do you know that this is a teleporting ritual ground?” I asked with an even more confused look.

“Yeah, and why do you want us to go to the Empire? We should be heading back to Alsenia.” Lucia stated.

“If you return to Alsenia then you will be killed. Alsenia will be overrun by tomorrow morning.” Thomas replied with a downtrodden look.

“I don’t believe you.” Lucia said with a threatening look.

“I also don’t know if I can believe that. It just doesn’t sound possible and where would you even get this information? I’ve been with you the whole time.” Adella said. Thomas couldn’t help but feel hurt by this but he didn’t show it. Instead, he just sighed and grabbed Adella by the hand.

“What are you doing?” Adella asked with a concerned look.

“I think it’s about time we left. I am counting on you three.” Thomas said before disappearing completely into thin air.

I stood there stunned along with Lucia and Sasha who didn’t quite know why we were stunned. There wasn’t a single trace of essence used at all when Thomas disappeared. Which meant that he wasn’t using magecraft. If that was the case then what did he use? It didn’t make sense.

“What? How? I have so many questions!” I said as I looked around for any signs of essence around where he and Adella were. Lucia also looked around in disbelief. Sasha gave me a look of confusion which made me realize where we were. Thomas had said this was a Teleportation ritual ground so it would make sense that they would be able to use it… even though… it isn’t active. Just what the hell is he?

Moving along the stone I began carving out the runic symbols that had degraded to the point of no longer working with the knife hidden in my staff. Lucia watched with a mix of curiosity and dumbfoundedness. She couldn’t understand why I would believe that man. Though she wasn’t the only one. Sasha was also wary of why I would go along with him. I didn’t have an answer. For some reason, I wanted to prove him right. I wanted to see Alsenia burn but I also wanted to come out of this alive with Sasha.

“What are you doing?” Lucia asked with a worried expression.

“I’m doing as he said. He sounded serious and I’m worried that if we don’t do as he said then we will all die horrible deaths.” I replied.

“I am with Nero. He didn’t seem like he was lying. Also, he was capable of kicking both your asses, and yet he still wanted to be civil about things. I think there’s some merit to that.” Sasha said confidently.

“You can’t deny that he did beat the shit out of us at the Inn in less than a few seconds. If we do this and he’s right then we can save Alsenia faster.” I said as I continued carving.

“I guess I have no other choice. What can I do to help?” Lucia asked with a defeated sigh.

“In my bag is a carving set that I got when we bought the cart. Hand me one of them and you two need to start carving out the indentions in the stone. I’ll come over and double-check them when you are done.” I said as I kept carving. Both of them nodded before Sasha pulled out the carving set and they got to work.

A few hours later we were done and after pouring a little of my essence into it the ritual site came to life. Since it had been activated it would technically stay active until it was destroyed. Perhaps this town could use it to help their economy a bit. Especially since the only places with teleportation rituals sites like this one were capital cities.

“Should we get going?” Lucia asked.

“Yeah. Though we should probably pay someone to watch our carts and Norhs while we’re away. I doubt that they would easily traverse the labyrinth.” I replied.

“Wait, Labyrinth? What do you mean by labyrinth?” Lucia asked.

“The teleportation ritual site in the Empire is in the lowest level of the labyrinth. It’s a pain to get through though, between Sasha and me, we should be able to make our way out quickly.” I replied.

“Yeah, it’s fairly easy once you get past the man-eating monster dogs.” Sasha said with a smirk as she joked with Lucia. Though Lucia didn’t see that as a joke. She was in shock that we were okay with this. I wasn’t though. If I could avoid going into the labyrinth again I would.

“How did you survive out there? The swamp itself is a hellish landscape and to top it off you went through a monster-filled labyrinth. Just what are you made of?” Lucia asked with a somewhat angry and confused tone.

“Flesh mainly.” I said sarcastically. “Though I killed the giant serpent and Sasha took care of the dogs so I doubt that there are many dangerous creatures down there anymore.” I said honestly. Though all my answer did was make her more afraid of what I could do.

Returning to the town I used what I had left on me to pay for the stable fee for a good month. Once I was done there Sasha and I grabbed the gear that we thought we would need from our cart. Mainly food and weapons. Before we left I stopped by the merchant association office where I left a note explaining that we had reactivated the teleportation circle and where to find it.

Returning to the ritual site Lucia, Sasha, and I got in the center and focused on the Labyrinth’s lowest floor. Closing our eyes to the world we opened them again to find that we were in the dark underbelly of the Empire. Pouring some of my essence into my staff I ignited a magical flame. Just as I remembered it, the area had a few skeletons and there was still a large underground river in the center of what was left of the caved-in level.

“What is this place?” Lucia asked.

“Hell, I guess.” I replied earnestly as that was exactly what I thought about this place. Even so, I led the two of them across around the river and up the nearly destroyed stairway to the next level. Over the course of a single hour, I was able to lead us through the second-lowest level where the serpent had been sleeping. Both of them were in awe of the well-lit streets and beautiful craftsmanship of the architecture.

Eventually, we made our way to the moving maze that I had been stuck in before. Though unlike before when I escaped it I had learned its trick. Every so often the maze would move to create an opening right down the center. Thus, all we had to do was wait for the path to appear and make a run for it. However, I had no clue as to when the path would appear. It could be a day or two before it appeared. Lucia was a bit concerned with the maze though as now most of the walls and floor were lined with blood and crushed bones. It was just the remains of the serpent but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

Making camp, for the time being, was our best option so Sasha and I worked on preparing dinner over a small fire while Lucia laid out the bedrolls. We took turns watching the entrance to the maze while the others slept. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long as the path appeared after around six hours and without completely packing up we ran through. Going up the spiral staircase I found myself back in the Grand Imperial Library. However, there weren’t any remains like when I was here before. In fact, there were people here reading from the library.

The three of us were fairly surprised to be greeted not by an empty library but by a library with Emperor Nekhasha reading through a stack of books alongside the Elder and the brewer, Raghatnu. As soon as they saw us they dropped their books in disbelief. Well, almost all of them. Raghatnu seemed more relaxed than shocked.

“Nero… What are you doing here?” Emperor Nekhasha asked hesitantly as he approached us.

“Well, it’s a long story. To keep it short I’ll just say that we need your help.” I said with a bit of guilt.